"Your Truth" is Dangerous

2 Thes 2:8-12

Why Truth Matters:

2 Thes 2:8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. 9 The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, 10 and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. 11 Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. 12 And so all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned. [New English Translation].

Satan’s deputy will be known for “false wonders” and every kind of “evil deception.” It will work because the people have “no place in their hearts for the truth.” They will “believe what is false.” Those who delight in evil do not believe the truth and will be condemned.

The emphasis here is that truth and righteousness go hand in hand. When a culture does not value the truth, they are wide open for God judgement. Deception is a plausible argument that makes sense. It appeals to emotions and to selfishness. When deception is combined with some display of power, it can be incredibly compelling.

In the west, we have messed around with truth. We’ve tried to neuter it by talking about “your truth” vs “my truth.” That is absurd as talking about “your universe” vs. “my universe.” This is typical postmodernism .and it is actually the brainchild of Hindu and eastern influences. “All roads lead to heaven.” “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere.”

The consequences of this have been a nuclear wasteland of broken lives, marriages, insecure children and transgendered mutilated bodies, burning cities and people who use emotional manipulation to get whatever they want, which is to avoid the consequences of their own sin.

I’ve seen how in India a culture doesn’t value truth. They don’t ask the tough questions about the credibility or the veracity of their own religion, which is full of mythology about clever wits who never deal transparently with anyone. The people just accept that if it works, it’s fine. So, they have a high distrust of one another and a great deal of dysfunction and drama in the families. I could go on…

Application: as believers we cultivate a love of the truth in the culture. Truth is the foundation for the happy/harmonious relationships that people want. Where there isn’t a common understanding of truth, there cannot be harmonious relationships , which is exasperated because of selfish interests.

There must be no allowance for “your truth” vs. “my truth.” Empathy is often very emotionally manipulative. We need to bring people to a common understanding of the reality of a situation before they can be helped.

In the life battles, the current justification to abortion is that the mother’s “right to autonomy” trumps the child’s right to live. We’re way past blob of tissues and when life begins. Now the question is a battle of truth in ethics.

For those of you who are interacting, I’d love to see your responses: What are ways that you foster the cultivate on truth in your home, in work, in your community and in your culture?